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Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

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Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that eating fat leads to higher body fat is the most dangerously-wrong health misconception in history.

Honest question: how? I've never seen anyone who's obese and having a diet that made me go "huh that's odd how can they be obese?" While the inverse occasionally has been true, generally people who I consider in good shape appear to eat less, and less greasy food. So while there might be exceptions it seems to be a damn good rule of thumb to me.

> I've never seen anyone who's obese and having a diet that made me go "huh that's odd how can they be obese?"

Your question isn't refuting OPs claim: the people you are observing to be fat are fat because of their carb/sugar intake, not fat.

i.e. if you just fed someone large amounts of protein and fat they would be lean; it is the sugar and carbs that make them fat.

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that eating fat leads to higher body fat is the most dangerously-wrong health misconception in history.

Honest question: how? I've never seen anyone who's obese and having a diet that made me go "huh that's odd how can they be obese?" While the inverse occasionally has been true, generally people who I consider in good shape appear to eat less, and less greasy food. So while there might be exceptions it seems to be a damn good rule of thumb to me.

Because of homeostasis: dissolved substances like fats in the bloodstream are regulated within bands, and beyond certain limits the amount ingested doesn't translate to more: it's excreted or winds up elsewhere. Your metabolism may cause states worse than other people, sure. But that pound of butter you ingested isn't directly causing rises in the bloodstream to infinity. It's long-term accumulated burden and excess over time.

Cholesterol levels don't track intake directly. Lowering cholesterol and fat in diet needs to be done in consultation with somebody who understands your metabolism. Some vitamins are fat soluble. Some fat is beneficial.

Homeostasis is amazing.

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#103
post #65
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a conversation in a very public place can certainly end up promoting ideas Take a popular piece of media, inject a conversation about fringe ideas with some crackpot that would have very limited reach otherwise. This gives very high visibility to very fringe ideas. Giving undue weight to fringe viewpoints is promoting those viewpoints.

Promotion: "activity that supports or provides active encouragement for the furtherance of a cause" Simply discussing an idea, even giving undue weight, is not promotion. Conflating the two is dangerous as it provides justification for censorship. The free exchange of ideas and information is the only way a democracy can survive. If the idea is bad or wrong, it will be debated and ultimately defeated in the marketpla…

> If the idea is bad or wrong, it will be debated and ultimately defeated in the marketplace of ideas.

Sure, and I have a bridge to sell you.

The marketplace of ideas is a myth predicated on the willingness of participants to promote and evaluate their ideas honestly, and due to that honesty to stop promoting such ideas when they are shown to be wrong or inadequate. It requires participants to even be interested in how good their ideas are and be open to discussing them and changing views if these ideas are found wanting.

Observing real life, what we have is people flooding the zone with unmitigated faeces, either for profit or idealogical motives. They are uninterested in whether these ideas are true, good or even useful, whether there are 'better' ideas, and they often dominate through volume and repetition. Tribal cohesion ensures the spread of ideas as much or more than honest debate.

The marketplace of ideas is dead, if it ever really existed. A fairytale for children.

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#104
post #65
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a conversation in a very public place can certainly end up promoting ideas Take a popular piece of media, inject a conversation about fringe ideas with some crackpot that would have very limited reach otherwise. This gives very high visibility to very fringe ideas. Giving undue weight to fringe viewpoints is promoting those viewpoints.

Promotion: "activity that supports or provides active encouragement for the furtherance of a cause" Simply discussing an idea, even giving undue weight, is not promotion. Conflating the two is dangerous as it provides justification for censorship. The free exchange of ideas and information is the only way a democracy can survive. If the idea is bad or wrong, it will be debated and ultimately defeated in the marketpla…

> If the idea is bad or wrong, it will be debated and ultimately defeated in the marketplace of ideas.

And saying "Rogan promoted quack doctor making nonscientific claims again and thus the idea spread" is necessary part of that process. Too many people think that "marketplace of ideas" means "I get to spread lies and other side can not say that I am a liar".

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#105
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I’m on the same page as you regarding the anti-“saturated animal fats” crowd, but I actually don’t mind them. My animal-based cooking oil spend would be a lot higher if everyone stopped buying plant-based oils.

You try to avoid oxidised UFAs and you get oxidised cholesterol instead [0], which is at least as bad and probably worse [1].

[0] https://sci-hub.se/https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf97...

[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mnfr.200500063

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a weird crowd of people on the internet that have convinced themselves that seed oils are the cause of many ailments. It doesn’t have a ton of scientific backing but Joe Rogan promoted some guru doctor a while back that spread the idea to a lot more people.

The saga of John Yudkin and Pure White and Deadly should give you pause. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Yudkin > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure,_White_and_Deadly Or you know the article on highly processed foods that made the home page the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39746915 ... Could the seed oils thing be a bit much? Sure. Could canola and its use be part of the problem as a highly pr…

> I'm not sure that sounds like food...

A lot of things don't when you describe them in such detailed, clinical ways.

You can also buy (just like you can with quality olive oils) cold pressed canola which is manufactured simply by crushing the seed. The seed oil folks would have it that this is no better, AFAICT.

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#107
post #34

So, is this why fasting sometimes seems like a solution? Edit: Oversimplified, but: Less, calories, less fat? Excess calories, more fat?

Fasting seems like a solution because in the fasted state your body doesn't need to produce insulin. Your body needs insulin to push fat into cells. Your pancreas gets a break, and perhaps sensitivity improves when you go on an extended insulin-free holiday.

The insulin protein promotes glucose (not fats) uptake into the muscles (~75%), liver (~15%), and other tissue (~10%) to aggressively lower blood sugar levels back to a total circulating amount of ~5g.

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#108
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fasting seems like a solution because in the fasted state your body doesn't need to produce insulin. Your body needs insulin to push fat into cells. Your pancreas gets a break, and perhaps sensitivity improves when you go on an extended insulin-free holiday.

I'm no biologist but it's my understanding that insulin causes cells take up glucose, not fats. And I don't see anyone suggesting insulin or the pancreas is involved in any of this. So what does the pancreas have to do with Alzheimers?

> I don't see anyone suggesting

Have you looked?

"Although many factors affect fat cells, the hormone insulin exerts dominant anabolic control. Insulin decreases the circulating concentration of all major metabolic fuels by stimulating glucose uptake into tissues, suppressing release of fatty acids from adipose tissue, inhibiting production of ketones in the liver, and promoting fat and glycogen deposition." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082688/

Or this one: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-show...

There are many many other studies and articles, as the insulin-fat storage connection is very well documented

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that eating fat leads to higher body fat is the most dangerously-wrong health misconception in history.

Honest question: how? I've never seen anyone who's obese and having a diet that made me go "huh that's odd how can they be obese?" While the inverse occasionally has been true, generally people who I consider in good shape appear to eat less, and less greasy food. So while there might be exceptions it seems to be a damn good rule of thumb to me.

"Being fat" and having too much fat (or the wrong kind of fat) in the blood or brain are not equivalent. Eg people with high cholesterol can be quite slim also.

Re: Root cause of Alzheimer's may be fat buildup in brain cells, research suggests

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: how? I've never seen anyone who's obese and having a diet that made me go "huh that's odd how can they be obese?" While the inverse occasionally has been true, generally people who I consider in good shape appear to eat less, and less greasy food. So while there might be exceptions it seems to be a damn good rule of thumb to me.

> I've never seen anyone who's obese and having a diet that made me go "huh that's odd how can they be obese?" Your question isn't refuting OPs claim: the people you are observing to be fat are fat because of their carb/sugar intake, not fat. i.e. if you just fed someone large amounts of protein and fat they would be lean; it is the sugar and carbs that make them fat.

No they wouldn’t stay lean. If you fed someone more calories than their body uses to maintain its current weight, they would get fat eventually. Regardless of whether they eat carbs, fat or protein.
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